Airfoils are manufactured by many processes including casting, forging machining, gluing, welding, brazing and combinations of those methods. It is a common goal in using the methods to make the lightest and strongest blades possible to deal with the environments and forces encountered by the airfoils including aerodynamic forces, high and low temperatures, centrifugal and centripetal forces, mechanical impacts etc.
Additionally in the manufacturing of airfoils, many problems are encountered: the interior geometries of some airfoils may be quite complex especially if the airfoil is exposed to high temperatures; the materials used to deal with these environments and forces may be quite expensive and hard to work with; and if the airfoils are used in aviation, reducing the weight of an airfoil is important to increase the overall efficiency of the aircraft using the airfoils.